one day at Mysore

I woke up to the bustling and the lush and their promise of a great day . The sight of the passing lands and the unstained gusto on my face, hastened by the hurrying train running delayed, got me uncontrollably excited and charged to shoot blurry pics that conveyed my frantic enthusiasm, aka madness.

Within half an hour by 8'o' clock, I was in Mysore junction and strolled towards the city bus stand where I had my break-fast in the hotel attached to it. Very soon after Masala Dosa and Medhu Vada, a chance glance at the station timetable moved me to look for platform 23 and bus #201 that will take me to my destination-Chamundi hills- a good 13 km away.

The hill kept rising until the city of Mysore below fit into my sight's breadth.

Soon enough i was at the temple very reminiscent of Tirupathi, with a queue that is proportional to its moderate size.
I took my place behind the last man on the Rs30 queue, after buying a ticket from a counter to the left of the main entrance above a short flight of stairs. Many take the queue mistaking it to be the sarva darshan(free sighting, queue) and realize only when stopped by the guard well ahead on the line, at the left entrance to the temple. So if you don't find boards designating the queues (free, Rs30 and Rs100), as they aren't obvious, ask someone. Be watchful of monkeys around when you are in the queue to make sure you don't miss the fun. The monkeys are gently menacing picking flowers and fruits from the pooja baskets and tetra packs and bottles from pilgrims and tourists without posing aggressively- they simply seem to know too well to camouflage their aggression and make it seem like assertive pleading. They are as mischievous as funny, and will happily spare you, if you spare something in the bargain. Well they spared me because I had nothing to bargain.
The two temples just around the Chamundeshwari temple (aka Mahisasura mardhini) were even more serene, perhaps because they don't attract even a fraction of the visitors that swarm the main temple.

After my temple visits I spent time clicking pics from the vantage point behind the temple which offers a panoramic view of the city below. Without the heart for it, I descended Chamundi by the stairway, clicking pics along the way. The giant and imposing statue of the bull(Nandhi), that's along the way, looks like the work of someone who wished to contest the natural forces that created the hill itself.

There were a thousand steps to descend, but no heart to depart. The journey from Bangalore to Chamundi hills rejuvenated my spirit and further affirmed my commitment to explore through traveling. And thus I choose to move on to my next destination- the fort town, Srirangapatinam!!